


Surviving

by BlazersEtc



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Hunger Games AU, M/M, Newtmas Week, No HEA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 11:55:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5927443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazersEtc/pseuds/BlazersEtc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Day 4 of Newtmas week, AU theme.  When your life has a countdown and it's running out you'll do anything it takes to survive-and anything it takes to save the person you love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surviving

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t have a beta for this so my apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I tried to fit some smut in here but I just couldn’t seem to make it work, something about the way the tone of the fic started to go it just didn’t work so maybe next time. Oh and disclaimer: I’m not a fic writer, I just do this for fun sometimes.

Thomas felt sick. The crowd was so captured with what they were seeing: the costumes, the lights, the makeup-but most of all the new personalities that those things were displayed on. those same people would be gone in twenty-four hours time, maybe less if they stepped off a platform too soon or were dealt a hand of bad luck and all the crowd seemed to care about was the story. ‘Oohs’ and 'Ahhs’ left the crowd in one big single minded breath each time a tribute said something especially unique or impressive and as tribute after tribute took the stage Thomas could feel himself becoming more and more restless. The male from District 1, Andrew, had an ego so large that Thomas wasn’t sure were he managed to fit it all in his skinny suit and the girl from District 4 looked like she would faint at any moment. If these were the Districts with more training, the tributes who wanted this, it didn’t look to optimistic for him.Thomas straightened his tie for what was probably the millionth time, his stylist giving him a nasty side glare as he did so and he immediately dropped his hands.

Thomas tried to distract himself, turning his focus back to one of the monitors that was trained on the stage. A tall and skinny blonde, just a bit taller than Thomas himself but lankier, was sitting as poised and polished as royalty-though Thomas knew from training the past few days that this boy could have quite the temper if he was angry-but there was no trace of that anger now, only calm collected and polite. Thomas watched his interview with a bit of respect (after all, he was managing to hold it together pretty well) and a bit of anger (why was this so easy for him?), but he couldn’t deny that he was waiting for each word the blonde said and Thomas knew that was exactly what Newt was aiming for.

“Well I can’t bloody well do anything to change it so I might as well try to win, yeah?” The blonde gave Ceaser a smirk, it was meant to come off confident and carefree like it really didn’t matter either way- but Thomas could see right through the mask, this boy was dreading every moment of it.

***

Thomas was sure that his heart had never beat as fast as it was right now in this very moment. The countdown was ticking off above his head, each bang resonating in his chest and making his stomach twist in terror. If he stepped off too soon he would be blown to bits, just like Clara had two years ago when she’d been reaped, and if he waited to long he’d reach the same fate-or worse a long drawn out death for the capitals amusement. Thomas shook his head and tried to focus, taking deep breaths and he scanned the wide open arena for where the best weapons and supplies were laid. Thomas was fast, too used to running from town to the mines and back everyday, and he could grab what he needed and get out as long as no one got in his way.

The final bang sounded and Thomas thrust himself forward into the empty area of the arena, forcing his body to carry him faster than he’d ever run before, high on adrenaline. Thomas reached the first pack he’d spotted-a small backpack with a canteen attached to it-and grabbed it without missing a step. His eyes looked back to where he’d seen the small knife and immediately dove for it, narrowly missing a punch from the tribute from District 8 who’d decided to try and grab the knife at the last moment. Thomas didn’t pause, scrambling to his feet he ran the opposite direction, needing to get out before anyone else could come at him with something more lethal than a fist.

Out of the corner of his eye Thomas saw the Tribute from District 4 making his escape into the woods and Thomas couldn’t help the strange sense of relief he felt. Thomas pushed himself forward, running into the woods until his legs burned and his body wanted to give up but he kept pushing, needing to get as far from the others as possible.

***

Thomas wasn’t sure what was worse: watching the death toll go up every night and being forced to see the names and faces of the other teens and kids he’d trained with only days before or knowing that everyone back home, his Mom and Dad and his little sister would all be seeing his death on the same screen at some point soon. Thomas tried to tune out the eerie silence that always came after the recap, the woods suddenly seeming too fake to his ears. The woods, the real ones that Thoma would go to back home, were full of life: bugs, animals even the wind rustling through the leaves but here all of those sounds were artificial, on a loop played over and over to create an illusion of nature.

Thomas rolled over on to his side, pulling his thin blanket tighter around his body. The nights in the arena had been getting colder and Thomas knew it was a way to try and weed out the weaker tributes. It didn’t take long for Thomas to drift off into a light sleep.

***

Snap. Thomas woke from his sleep, freezing where he lay on the ground so that whoever had made the noise would think he was still asleep. Thomas had never been a heavy sleeper, too used to using his lunch breaks in the mine to take a nap-and being late back to work meant being the last one out at night and that was never something Thomas wanted to do.

Thomas’s heartbeat was so loud he was sure that whoever was behind him could hear it, his hand very very slowly moving towards the space in front of his stomach where he kept his knife, acting as if he was moving in his sleep. As soon as his hand closed around the leather handle Thomas sprung forward, plunging into the bushes as the tribute (Thomas didn’t dare waste time looking behind him to see which one) chased after him. Thomas was fast and light on his feet, but he was also tired and he’d hardly eaten for the past three days and even with the short distance he’d managed to cross he felt tired. Thomas urged his body to move the way he needed to, the heavy footsteps following behind him warned of what would be a very bloody death.

Thomas threw himself down the hill that came up in front of him, hoping that he would be able to hide but instead his foot caught a root and down he went, tumbling down the side of the hill, the other tribute following behind at what seemed like the same pace. Thomas hit the bottom of the hill with a thud and his arm connected with a tree stump, a loud cry escaping his mouth at the pain now shooting up his arm into his neck. Thomas didn’t stop though, shoving himself up and pressing forward, the other boy grabbing his pant leg and causing Thomas to almost fall once more. Thomas shook his foot around before finally managing to wrestle his way out of the boy’s hold, darting off into the trees and down along the side of the river.

“You’re going to wish you’d never been born, shrimp.” The tribute called after Thomas, the heavy footsteps now seeming much to close for the head start Thomas had. The bot dove forward, wrapping his arms around Thomas waist and tackling him to the ground. Thomas screamed as the boy’s body weight landed on top of him and his injured arm, the pain making him feel like he was going to pass out. Thomas squirmed and kicked and tried to get the bigger male off of him but no matter how he moved he just couldn’t get free. This is it, he thought to himself, this is how I die. A sudden scream from the boy above him made Thomas freeze in fear, his eyes going wide when he realized that there was a spear stuck right through the middle of the body above him.

Thomas pushed himself away from the now dying boy, scrambling to try and get away from his attacker but he was stuck, too weak to push the body off. Thomas was sure that whoever had taken this boy out would take him out next so when the body above him was rolled away and a hand was extended it took Thomas a moment to register what was going on. Above him stood the blonde he’d seen escaping into the woods days prior, his hair now a dark blonde color from being matted with dirt and his once flawless skin held scratches and cuts from encounters with the forest and other tributes but his eyes were still the same and even though Thomas was terrified out of his mind he couldn’t help but notice how nice they were.

“You alright mate? You were bricking it.”

Thomas blinked for a moment before slowly reaching out with his good hand to take the boy’s hand. Logic told Thomas that he should be running right now, but his body was tired and something about this boy made Thomas feel like he could trust him.

“Name’s Newt by the way. I don’t think we’ve ever officially met.”

Newt helped Thomas to his feet before dropping his hand and moving over to where his bag was stashed under a shrub.

“Thomas. Uh, my name’s Thomas.” Thomas moved to rub at the back of his neck, a nervous gesture, and winced at the pain it caused his arm. “Thanks. For uh…that.”

Newt chuckled a little, pulling out a bit of cloth from his bag and walking over to where Thomas stood. “Don’t mention it. He’s a real slinthead, that one. Tried to raid my supplies while I was having a kip and killed the girl from my District, Katie.”

Newt’s tone was nonchalant but Thomas could tell that whatever had happened was something Newt didn’t want to talk about. Newt didn’t ask as he moved forward to take Thomas’s arm, pushing his sleeve up to inspect it for any bruises or area of broken bone. Thomas winced when Newt pushed on a particularly painful spot and Newt grimaced a little.

“Sorry. It feels like it might be broke right here. I can try and wrap it a bit to support it but there isn’t much else I can do about it out here.”

Thomas stared at Newt in confusion, why was this boy trying to help him? It would be so easy for him to put a spear right through him and mark one more tribute off his list, so why was he trying to fix things? Thomas knew he should have said thank you, told the boy it didn’t matter his wrist would heal but instead his thoughts came tumbling out.

“Why are you helping me? Shouldn’t I be dead or something?”

Newt laughed, honest to god laughed and Thomas was starting to wonder if the blonde had gone crazy to be laughing in a place like this.

“Honestly, Tommy if I wanted to you’d already be dead on the ground…but I wouldn’t do that. You’re one of the good one’s. I saw you help Chuck back on the first night. You gave that bugger part of your food and you knew he wasn’t going to make it through the night but you still used what could have kept you alive on him. That deserves a second chance of not being killed if you ask me.” Newt shook his head and reached for Thomas’s injured arm.

Thomas didn’t fight Newt, instead he let the boy take his arm and move it around, watching Newt as he worked to try and support Thomas’s arm.

“Thanks.”

*****

Four days later Thomas and Newt were laying huddle together on Newt’s sleeping bag, their legs intertwined for warmth and their foreheads pressed together as they tried to conserve their body heat. The temperature in the arena seemed to grow colder every night and the day’s seemed to get hotter, making the drop in temperature at night that much worse. Thomas was used to the cold, working in the mine’s meant being miles underground where the heat didn’t reach-but Newt was another story. Newt came from a warm tropical district, a place where cold wasn’t something Newt had much experience with. Newt was shaking so badly that Thomas couldn’t help but pull the blanket closer around the blonde and pull him closer so that their bodies were flush against one another.

“Don’t chip a tooth.” Thomas warned with a frown, he could heard Newt’s teeth banging together and while Thomas was only slightly chilled Newt looked like he might freeze to death.

“Slim it.” Newt managed to spit back between shivers, ducking his head under Thomas’s chin to press his cold face against Thomas’s warm chest.

Thomas chuckled in amusement but didn’t push Newt away, even though this was just for survival Thomas like it, it felt right to have Newt in his arms.

****

The days continued like that, friendly banter filled the day hours as they hiked, climbed, and swam to avoid being attacked by other tributes. As the fallen count went up Thomas knew that their chances of surviving got better and better. As it stood the only tributes left were a girl from District 1, a small boy from District 6 and a girl from District 8; if they could just wait it out a few more days then maybe, just maybe they could go home.

As time went on Thomas and Newt grew closer, they were constantly touching whether it was grabbing a shoulder to keep someone from falling into a trap or huddling together at night or their shared kisses that had started one night because Newt had accidentally gotten stung by a bee-something he was allergic to- and the venom had caused an awful lot of gushing and feelings spilling out. Thomas didn’t mind though, he didn’t mind any of it, if this could go on for the rest of his life, minus the threat of death at every turn, Thomas would be happy.

When only one tribute remained Newt rolled over on to his side to look at Thomas, his gaze a bit nervous and that was something that Thomas rarely saw from the boy.

“Have you…eve wondered what it would be like…to be intimate with someone you really care about?”

Thomas didn’t know where this was coming from, after all it wasn’t as if they’d talked in depth about their personal lives back home just their likes and dislikes and their random thoughts. Thomas looked back at Newt with nothing more than a nod, too nervous to form a sentence.

“What if you knew that come tomorrow night, you or the person you care about could be dead. If you could only have that one chance, one time, would you take it?”

Thomas’s kiss to Newt’s lips was all the answer that Newt needed. It didn’t matter that one of them would probably be dead tomorrow morning or that the entire set of Districts was probably watching them right now; what mattered was that they were together. Under a ceiling of stars Thomas learned what real bliss was and Newt finally understood what happiness was. Between moans and grunts and awkward questions, ('what do we use for uhhh lubrication?’ from Thomas as a 'I don’t know what I’m doing’ from newt) the boy’s lost themselves in a new world of pleasure and discovery. 'I love you’s were traded and as both boys fell asleep in each other’s arms everything seemed perfect.

***

Thomas awoke to screaming. Thomas bolted upright, watching in horror as two tributes fought right beside him. “Such a weakling. You can’t even do it!” The girl from District 1 stood across from Newt with a smirk on her face. Thomas was desperately trying to figure out what was going on as he blindly groped for his knife, his brain still foggy from sleep. Thankfully the girl hadn’t seemed to notice that he was awake yet.

The sight before him was horrifying and confusing. Newt held a knife in his hand and though logic told him that he should have that pointed at his attacked the blade was faced at himself.

“You’re really pathetic. Trying to sacrifice yourself so that he can live, and instead you’re just both going to die.” The girl lunged forward, tackling Newt to the ground and effectively pushing the knife all the way into Newt’s body and piercing his heart. Thomas heard a blood curdling scream, not realizing that it was his own,reaching around his neck to pull at the small shell necklace he kept there, moving to press it weakly into Thomas’s hand. and he rushed forward to drive his own knife into the girl’s neck, sticking it the whole way though. Thomas didn’t stop to check and make sure she was dead, he shoved her body away leaving her to lay paralyzed and dying as he looked at Newt.

“No. No you can’t, you can’t leave me. We were supposed to live.” Thomas dropped to his knees and pulled Newt’s head onto them. he knew it was crazy, only one could win the games after all, and it would have been a fight to the death- and maybe that’ why Newt did it. Thomas couldn’t imagine how horrible it would be to have to try and kill the man he loved, to fight him until one of them lay lifeless on the ground. It was bad enough to sit here and watch Newt die but to have to do that himself…Thomas would never be able to stomach it-and maybe Newt wouldn’t have been able to do the reverse either.

“You’ve won, Tommy.” Newt said quietly, choking on a bit of blood that came up from his throat. “You’re going home.”

“Not without you.” Thomas felt the tears welling up in his eyes but he didn’t care, because Newt was right there, Thomas could touch him and feel him- but he couldn’t save him. Thomas ran his hands through Newt’s hair, knowing how much the blonde loved that. Newt reached around his neck to pull at the small shell necklace he kept there, moving to press it weakly into Thomas’s hand.

“Say hi to my Mum for me, yeah? She’s going to love you, almost as much as I do.” Newt smiled up at Thomas as he coughed again, this time harsher.

“Newt…” Thomas couldn’t stand this, this wasn’t fair. Newt had saved him, not once but twice and here Newt was dying and thomas couldn’t do a thing in return. He grasped the necklace tightly as tears streamed down his face.

“I love you, Tommy.” Newt said quietly, as the last bit of strength left him. His eyes went blank and his chest stopped rising and falling -and Thomas lost it.

***

The sun was shinning in District 4 as Thomas walked through the door of his home. After the games Thomas had turned down his spot in the victor’s village, giving his family use of the home instead, and moved to District 4 to take care of Newt’s mother. Thomas had tried to go back home and resume his old life, he really had, but he nightmares kept him up at night. In his dreams he watched Newt die over and over and suddenly the sheer amount of green reminded him too much of the place he’d lost Newt in. The chilly months in twelve reminded Thomas far too much of those nights spent curled up beside Newt and after two weeks Thomas hadn’t been able to take it anymore. Thomas gave his family the house, said his goodbye’s and moved to District 4.

As Thomas stepped through the door he was assaulted with a warm cinnamon smell and he smiled. “Something smells good.” He grinned, knowing the smell of cinnamon rolls anywhere.

“Well I’m glad you think so, because I may have gotten so carried away with these that I forgot to make dinner.” The brunette girl smiled up at Thomas, her brown eyes smiling just as much as she sat the pan of cinnamon rolls down on top of the stove. She was petite with a thin frame, only thickened by the small bump of her stomach, a result of a night of far too much alcohol and a forgotten condom on their first wedding anniversary.

“Breakfast for dinner? I approve.” Thomas smiled, reaching into the cabinet for two plates, after all who says you can’t have a breakfast picnic for dinner?

The girl laughed and shook her head, ruffling Thomas’s hair as she walked past him towards the porch, grabbing a thick blanket on her way out. It took only moments for Thomas to plate a few of the sticky confections and follow his wife out to the porch, joining her on the blanket she’d spread out on the deck.

Maybe his life wasn’t perfect, after all the victor’s duties were very dull and some were downright terrifying; Thomas had to stop counting the amount of times he’d had to climb into bed with someone he hated. Maybe this life wasn’t what he’d wanted, maybe Newt wasn’t by his side laughing and snarking and calling him Tommy in a way that made his whole being melt- but Thomas was happy and he knew that wherever Newt was he was smiling down on him right now.

Thomas reached for the cord tied around his neck, tracing the shell with his thumb. “I was thinking about names. For the baby I mean.”

Thomas turned his focus to his wife, blushing when he realized that he’d gotten lost for a moment. “i was thinking that we should name him Newton. I think Newton Edison sounds like a wonderful name. What do you think?” Thomas smiled, a kindness came through his eyes that he knew his wife could see.

“I think little Newton over there is going to be the best kid ever to be born.” Thomas smiled, reaching over to throw his arm around his wife’s shoulders and giving her a soft kiss.

It wasn’t his fairytale, it wasn’t a storybook ending or a happily ever after- but it was surviving and Thomas would take it.


End file.
